Amelius Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 Should one maintain a relationship with a statist/religious person? Do you have statist/religious friends? If you do, how do you deal with the fact that they most probably support the initiation of force against you either by being statists or by being religious(with the belief that their God will torture you for eternity for disbelief)?
MrOrange Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 You won't be left with very many friends if you rid yourself of these people. I know I wouldn't. For me, as long as they treat me with respect and are open to my thoughts on these topics, I will keep them as my friends. Many times they are sympathetic to my views and the conversations are open and civil. Plus most answer the "against me argument" to my satisfaction. You won't be left with very many friends if you rid yourself of these people. I know I wouldn't. For me, as long as they treat me with respect and are open to my thoughts on these topics, I will keep them as my friends. Many times they are sympathetic to my views and the conversations are open and civil. Plus most answer the "against me argument" to my satisfaction.
Emanuel Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 It's really up to you to decide how consistent you want to be. I certainly do hang out with people who are not ''rational'', but I wouldn't consider them my friends. The people who I share my deepest secrets and emotions are my true friends, and those are people who have accepted the non-aggression principle and other philosophical rules that are important to me. To me, having friends is not really important to me, as long as I know I'm living my life the right way.
MysterionMuffles Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 If they have the capacity for reason and can question things like you do, they're worth keeping around. Just not as much. Those friendships either fizzle out and die, or improve if you become a living example of your virtues. Take it from me...I only have 3 friends left I've ditched the blatantly destructive, and then the subtley destructive people. Don't know about their belief systems too much but I can sure as hell make a good guess if I had to. I've never lost a friend yet from an argument on principles pertaining to religion or politics. To me it's how well am I being treated? My best friend isn't religious, but he goes to church, and he does not argue back when I talk about religion's fallacies. Next time I hang out with him, I do want to know how he feels about it because he's a bright guy who already has no interest voting. Though I know he can benefit from why it's important that he continues not voting lol.
Gaurav251 Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 Well its all about the cost/benefit relationship right?If these people are beneficial to my life and give me comfort and happiness, sure! Why not keep them around? How ever if they are destructive and potentially crazy (thus following little to no ethics or principles) I will turn 180 degrees and separate my self from them in the easiest and shortest ways possible (how ever I would rarely even start to have a relationship with them if I see these things oozing out of their personalities). Sure that doesn't leave me a lot of friends to hang out with, but when I do find the 'right' person it is a far more enjoyable relationship for me to be in and I absolutely would not trade it for having 'more' people in my life as 'friends'.
mikeyV Posted October 20, 2013 Posted October 20, 2013 I find it likely some people are statist or religious only because that's all they've really known about and it takes some serious worldview shaking up for them to see that there are actually more philosophically sound perspectives on reality. But like one of the commenters has already said, you're going to be left with slim options if all these people are rooted out of your life. For some of us this is possible through meetups, internet, etc etc. But others don't have all the resource to just start cutting people off that hold these views. A good portion of these people might say they are statist or believe in God but there life doesn't really reflect that either. It's just linked to their identity through family, church, and society. I think there are plenty of generally respectful people that I can be associated with that haven't been able to completely accept anarchism. I don't find this to be living inconsistently either. In terms of romantic partnerships, this is a tad more complicated and I would say it must be taken on with reason and compassion and on a individual basis.
Guest Exceptionalist Posted October 21, 2013 Posted October 21, 2013 Well its all about the cost/benefit relationship right?If these people are beneficial to my life and give me comfort and happiness, sure! Why not keep them around? How ever if they are destructive and potentially crazy (thus following little to no ethics or principles) I will turn 180 degrees and separate my self from them in the easiest and shortest ways possible ... Everyone is potentially crazy but that doesn't answer da question if they are capable to reason and evidence and all the good stuff. For me, as long as they treat me with respect and are open to my thoughts on these topics, I will keep them as my friends. Many times they are sympathetic to my views and the conversations are open and civil. Plus most answer the "against me argument" to my satisfaction. Respect is no freebie and the foundation of an association. It appears to me that you are not one of the light-hearted, cuz you use the term civil.
Culain Posted October 23, 2013 Posted October 23, 2013 It depends what else they can offer IMO. If they're always there for me or they can provide insightful then I will keep them around even if they have a few detached views. Tom woods and Jeffrey Tucker are two of my favourite economist and I believe they are both religious, but I would share dinner with them in a heartbeat for what they have offered.
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